Awareness critical in fight against breast cancer

LeAnna Franklin, who owns and operates KeLe Alpacas in Kewaunee with husband Keith Bancroft, stands in the pasture with the 30 alpacas on the farm. Franklin recently was diagnosed with breast cancer.(Photo: Todd McMahon/Press-Gazette Media)Buy Photo

KEWAUNEE — As LeAnna Franklin prepared to go in for surgery Monday, all kinds of thoughts raced through her head — “Life goes on hold," to "you’re not alone," to "it’s scary," to "it’ll be fine.”

“One of the biggest things is it puts everything on hold,” she said last week about her breast cancer surgery.

Recently diagnosed with cancer, Franklin had to cancel a big holiday sale she hosts annually in November at her alpaca farm in Kewaunee County.

Instead of providing a money-making event for local artisans and a showcase for the dozens of animals on the 11-acre KeLe Alpacas property she owns and her operates with husband Keith Bancroft, Franklin's sole focus is her health. The 65-year-old faced an uncertain future as she went in for a lumpectomy Monday morning at Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay.

Giving Franklin some comfort as a first-time cancer patient is the knowledge that she’s not alone. The sentiment has been reinforced the last few weeks by events throughout the region tied to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“One thing I realized, I just became part of millions of other women that have gone through this. So, I’m in good company,” said Franklin, whose operation to remove a cancerous tumor from a breast was to include a specialized radiation treatment.

According to the American Cancer Society, an average of one in eight women in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer in her lifetime. That makes breast cancer the most common cancer among American women aside from skin diseases.

“It’s just kind of everywhere,” said Erin DeGroot, executive director for the local Breast Cancer Family Foundation.

Buy Photo

LeAnna Franklin, who owns and operates KeLe Alpacas in Kewaunee with husband Keith Bancroft, plays with her 15-year-old St. Bernard and Portuguese water dog mix Bear outside the log building at the farm. Franklin recently was diagnosed with breast cancer.(Photo: Todd McMahon/Press-Gazette Media)

More than 230,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in this country this year, which highlights the importance of awareness and prevention, DeGroot said.

Started in 1999 to providesupport and resources for families of cancer patients, the BCFF now targets thousands of adolescents in Northeastern Wisconsin to impress upon them the importance cancer awareness and prevention. And, the educational lessons taught by DeGroot and her staff to high school freshmen and middle school students in their classrooms isn’t confined to breast cancer.

“I talk to them about all of the strategies they can use to try to reduce their risk for any type of cancer,” DeGroot said. “So, how do you stay healthy, how do you eat well, no smoking, not using tanning beds (and) using sunscreen, all of those kind of things.

“We’re kind of hitting 'em at the age where they’re a little more independent, they’re starting to make some of their own choices, and this is to help guide them. Mom and dad can tell you all of the time what to do, but sometimes you hear it from somebody else and it sticks a little better.”

Breast, testicular, skin and cervical cancers are those most discussed in the BCFF school visits, which is what much of the funding generated by the nonprofit is used toward. Fundraising is a community undertaking.

The BCFF commemorates Breast Cancer Awareness Month by hosting the Pink Pumpkin 5K Run/Walk. The eighth annual event, held Oct. 10 at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, drew almost 1,000 participants and raised more than $65,000.

A Green Bay Packers-supported “Tackle Cancer” fundraiser put on by the Sting Cancer groups from Bay Port and De Pere high schools for the schools’ varsity football game at Bay Port on Friday night brought in more than $3,000 for the BCFF.

Buy Photo

Sue Paulick, right, of De Pere gives a high-five to a cheering supporter during the annual Pink Pumpkin 5K Walk/Run to support the Breast Cancer Family Foundation on Oct. 10 at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay.(Photo: Jenny Du Puis/Press-Gazette Media)

Ashwaubenon High School’s Sting Cancer students also held a pink-themed BCFF fundraiser at the Jaguars’ home football game against Sheboygan North on Friday.

The BCFF also collaborates with the Ribbon of Hope Foundation, a local nonprofit that offers support, including financial help, for those with breast cancer.

“I’ll ask a class and say, ‘How many of you have somebody that you know that’s been affected (by cancer)?’ and I say 90 percent of those kids raise their hand,” DeGroot said. “Cancer is scary, but when you know something about it, it kind of helps give you a little bit of a comfort level.”

Since she noticed the lump in her breast in August, the subsequent diagnosis of cancer and learning through reading and talking to others about what lies ahead, Franklin is hopeful. She wants more than anything to join the ranks of what the ACS says is more than 2.8 million breast-cancer survivors in the U.S.

“I think women need to know that, yeah, you’re with a lot of other people going through the same thing,” Franklin said. “It’s kind of like you’re not alone, and it’s OK how you go about dealing with it.”

What: Wearing pink attire, Ashwaubenon firefighters will collect monetary donations in pink boots in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The donations will be support the local Breast Cancer Family Foundation. The local Ribbon of Hope organization will educate shoppers on how to be a financial, informational and emotional resource for those afflicted with breast cancer in Northeastern Wisconsin.